Congressman Aderholdt and Brooks Respond to Obama’s National Address

President Obama had a difficult task with his address to the nation Tuesday night, in trying to convince the American people and Congress that Syria should be punished for allegedly using chemical weapons against its own people.

It seemed to have little effect on the Alabama legislators we spoke with, who still plan to vote “no” on military action in Syria.

Congressman Robert Aderholt says, “There are a lot of bad actors in Syria on both sides. When you come in and help one, you may be helping someone who could be even worse than Bashar Assad.”

Congressman Mo Brooks agrees, adding that the United States can’t be “the world’s sole policeman.” He adds, “That means we are going to have to defer to some degree to the judgment of other nations around the world.”

When asked specifically about Obama’s speech, Congressman Aderholt thought it was well articulated, but that it failed in its intent.

“For us to do a military strike at this time, the American people just are not on board, Congress is just not on board, and the President has not done a good job in really articulating that message,” said Brooks.

There’s still a chance President Obama will move forward with military action even without congressional approval. Brooks immediately brought up the idea of impeachment if this is done.

“If the president violates the War Powers Act, I would quote to him his Vice President’s own words. Joe Biden said if George Bush were to attack Iran because of Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, that it would be an impeachable offense,” said Brooks.

There is a possibility there could be a diplomatic solution with Russia’s help, but many are skeptical this will happen.